Drain snakes have been available and used to clear obstacles from drain pipes and related piping systems for many years. At one end is a handle crank or other type of holding and turning object. At the other end is an attachment that is capable of grabbing or removing obstructing debris from a drain pipe, such as hair or other material.
U.S. Pat. No. 566,110 issued to Wrigley on Aug. 18, 1896, shows a cleaning device including a rotatable handle (item f in FIGS. 1-2) at one end and any of various attachments at the other end, FIGS. 4-8. This document appears to be silent regarding a detachable snake portion interlocking with a handle portion. Similarly, see U.S. Pat. No. 984,473 issued to Cornelius on Feb. 14, 1911.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,783,256 issued to Miller on Dec. 2, 1930 shows a device for cleaning out drain pipes including a detachable handle (item 14 in FIG. 1). However, this handle lacks any interlocking structure as provided in the present invention, which selectively interlocks between a reusable handle and a disposable snake segment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,918 issued to Jacobs et al. on May 28, 1991 shows a cargo vehicle load restraint bar having an axially movable sleeve that slides onto a toggle joint to lock the joint into a straight condition (see Abstract and item 62 in the Front Page Figure). However, this structure lacks an interlocking feature between the two straight tubular portions, and is unrelated to a drain pipe cleaning device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,154,545 issued to Pinto et al. on May 15, 1979 shows an externally mounted locking mechanism for telescoping tubes that permits releasable adjustment of the tubes, see the Front Page Figure. FIG. 1 shows the use of the locking mechanism in a paint roller handle (see item 10). However, this mechanism has no interlocking structure including the locking sleeve feature that is provided in the present invention, particularly in a drain snake device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,961 issued to Stewart on Jul. 14, 1987 shows a coupling mechanism in which a male and a female coupling fixture are mated and a sleeve slides coaxially into a locked position over the joint to keep the joint in a straight orientation (see item 31 in the Front Page Figure). However, this interlocking structure allows the tubular portions 30 and 33 to rotate coaxially independently with respect to each other. By contrast, the present invention requires that the snake segment be firmly rotatable only by turning the handle crank, i.e., the snake segment cannot be free to rotate independently from the handle during use.
There are several drain snake devices and generally similar structures disclosed in the prior art in which two elongated parts are generally interlocked at their ends, and which may involve an axially movable sleeve to hold them together. U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,931 issued to Flores on Feb. 17, 1987 shows a compact foldable fishing pole in which the pole segments are locked into a coaxial arrangement where the ends meet, using a movable sleeve, see items 26 and 28 in FIGS. 1-2. However, this structure fails to provide a handle crank to rotate the elongated distal portion, e.g., for use in cleaning debris from drain pipes.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,880,435 issued to Deutsch et al. on Apr. 7, 1959, shows a pipe cleaning apparatus including two elongated segments that are interlocked at their ends, see FIG. 6. However, this structure lacks an axially movable sleeve to hold the segments together.
GB1556262 filed by Elversson, published Nov. 21, 1979 shows a tool for progressing a flexible leading wire through a hollow passage for drawing an electrical cable through a hidden conduit including a sleeve (items 14/15 in FIGS. 4-5) and a locking body (item 6 in FIGS. 4-5) that holds the sleeve in position. However, this arrangement lacks a continuously rotatable handle crank for removing obsructing debris from a pipe or conduit, and a sleeve having a proximal notch to hold the handle in a nonrotating orientation as provided in this invention to permit engaging or disengaging the handle from the remainder of the device.
U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2003/0231927 published by Hale on Dec. 18, 2003 shows a connector for a pipe cleaning apparatus including an interlocking feature between two elongated sections of the device, and using a sleeve to hold the interlocked ends together, as shown in FIG. 2. However, this structure fails to provide the sleeve notch to hold the handle in a non-rotating orientation while the snake portion and handle portion are interlocked or released, as described in the present specification. Similarly, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,929 issued to Hale on Dec. 19, 1989, particularly FIGS. 5-6.
U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2001/0042277 published by Reichborn on Nov. 22, 2001 shows a quick disconnect tube cleaning brush coupling, including a spring-loaded sleeve that holds together two interlocking ends of elongated sections of a pipe cleaning structure, see item 16 of the Front Page Figure. However, this arrangement lacks any simultaneous feature in the sleeve to block the rotation of the handle while the interlocked ends are mated together or are disconnected from each other.
Therefore, there is a need for a drain snake structure that has the capability of removing a reusable handle from a disposable snake segment, in which the handle interlocks with the snake segment during use, and can be detached for disposal of the snake segment.
Also, there is a further need to provide a drain snake structure in which the handle is directly interlocked with a snake portion and in which the handle is held in a non-rotating or temporarily fixed arrangement while the snake segment is detached from or attached to the handle. This temporarily fixed handle arrangement allows a disposable snake segment to be easily attached to or removed from a corresponding reusable handle. This feature is accomplished by the use of an axially movable sleeve having a notch at its proximal end, as described further in the detailed description.
Furthermore, there is a need for a drain snake kit containing a reusable handle and two or more disposable snake segments that are matched to uniquely interlock with the reusable handle.